8/19/2016

Ever since Disney starlet Zendaya Coleman was cast as the female lead in Spider-Man: Homecoming, there has been a ton of speculation as to who she could be playing. While there are only a few major love interests in Peter Parker's life, none of them were named "Michelle", which is the name that had been given to Zenday's character during filming. But was it legit? Or was she actually playing someone more recognizable? Well, The Wrap claims to know the answer, and it's a very big deal.

The trade says Zendays will be playing Peter Parker's most famous gal, Mary Jane Watson, who in the comics would eventually become his wife. The crimson-haired model was portrayed by Kirsten Dunst in Sam Raimi's movies, and would have been played by Shailene Woodley in the recent reboots if her scenes hadn't been cut.

Obviously this is huge, and is bound to cause a certain amount of controversy with those who don't like the idea of an African-American MJ. But forget those haters, and applaud Marvel/Sony for taking this new Spidey franchise in the most ethnically-diverse direction we've seen yet. So while we didn't get a Miles Morales Spider-Man we have a cast that includes Zendaya, Tony Revolori, Hannibal Buress, Donald Glover, Bokeem Woodbine, Abraham Attah, and Kenneth Choi, to go along with main stars Tom Holland, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, and Michael Keaton.